Callum Joseph Newman (born 31 August 2002) is an English

professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

. He is signed to

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Puroresu, Japanese professional-wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, promotion founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, and based in Nakano, Tokyo. It is currently majority owned by card-game company Bushiroad, with TV As ...

(NJPW), where he is the current third leader of the

United Empire , originally , is a professional wrestling faction performing in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). The group was formed in October 2020 by Will Ospreay and Great-O-Khan, when Ospreay turned on his Chaos st ...

, and a former two-time

IWGP Tag Team Champion The is a professional wrestling world tag team championship owned by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. "IWGP" is the acronym of the NJPW's governing body, the . The title was introduced on December 12, 1985 at an NJPW live event. The ...

Early life

Newman's grandfather was Toni Granzi, one of the UK's greatest heel wrestlers, active in the 1950s and 1960s. Influenced by his grandfather, he attended a professional wrestling school near his home while continuing to play

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

. That's when Newman met

Will Ospreay William Peter Charles Ospreay (born 7 May 1993) is an English professional wrestler. , he is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a former two-time AEW International Champion. He is also known for his eight year tenure with New Japa ...

, who took Newman under his wing as his protege.

Professional wrestling career

Early career (2017–2023)

Callum made his in-ring debut in December 2017. Newman proceeded to mainly wrestling on the British independent scene.

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2023–present)

On 8 September 2023, at ''Road to Destruction'', Newman made his debut for

(NJPW) as a member of the

, facing Los Ingobernables de Japon in an eight-man tag team match in a losing effort. He would spend the rest of the year mainly competing in tag matches with United Empire. He participated in the 2024 New Japan Cup, where he lost to

Gabe Kidd Gabriel Michael McMenamin (born 24 April 1997) is an English people, English Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is working for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) under the ring name Gabe Kidd, is a member of the Bullet Club and its Li ...

in the first round. On July 5, Newman defeated

Yoshi-Hashi is a Japanese professional wrestler, signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he performs under the ring name Yoshi-Hashi (stylized in all caps as YOSHI-HASHI), and is a former four-time IWGP Tag Team Champion, with Hirooki Goto; as well ...

in a six-man tournament final to win one of two qualification spots for the 2024 G1 Climax. From July to August, he took part in the G1 Climax finishing the tournament with a record of two wins and seven losses, failing to advance to the play-off match of the tournament. He teamed with

Jeff Cobb is an American professional wrestler and former amateur wrestler. As of May 2025, he is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name JC Mateo and is a member of The Bloodline. He is best known for his tenure in N ...

in the 2024 World Tag League, where they were placed in A-Block and scored 6 points, but failed to advance to the finals. In March 2025, Newman participated in the 2025 New Japan Cup, where he lost to

Tetsuya Naito is a Japanese Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is best known for his 20-year run in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he served as the leader of the ''Los Ingobernables de Japon'' stable, and was a multi-time world champion. ...

in the first round. On April 4 at

Sakura Genesis Sakura Genesis is an annual professional wrestling event promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) since Invasion Attack (2013), 2013. Held annually at Tokyo's Ryōgoku Kokugikan, the event has been nicknamed . Originally known as Invasion Attack ...

, Newman and Cobb defeated Naito and

Hiromu Takahashi (born December 4, 1989) is a Japanese professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a member of the ''Los Ingobernables de Japón'' stable. Takahashi made his debut for NJPW on Augus ...

to win the

IWGP Tag Team Championship The is a professional wrestling world tag team championship owned by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. "IWGP" is the acronym of the NJPW's governing body, the . The title was introduced on December 12, 1985 at an NJPW live event. T ...

. This would be Newman's first ever championship in a major promotion. However, their reign would only last 9 days as the duo were forced to vacate the titles due to Cobb leaving NJPW. After vacating the titles, Newman declared leadership of United Empire and challenged

Hirooki Goto is a Japanese Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion in his first reign. He is also one-half of the tag team Bishamon alongside Yoshi-Hashi. ...

to match for the

IWGP World Heavyweight Championship The is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship owned by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. "IWGP" is the acronym of NJPW's governing body, the . The championship was created on March 1, 2021, by the unification of t ...

, which was later made official for Wrestling Dontaku 2025. On April 26, at Wrestling Redzone in Hiroshima, Newman and

Great-O-Khan , better known by his ring name , is a Japanese professional wrestler signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a member of the United Empire stable, the former NJPW World Television Champion in his one time, and the final official ...

defeated Bishamon (

and

) to win the vacant IWGP Tag Team Championship. On 4 May at Wrestling Dontaku, Newman failed to defeat Goto for the world heavyweight title. At Dominion 6.15 in Osaka-jo Hall, Newman and O-Khan lost their titles to

Taichi Taichi is a Japanese given name and surname. Given name Taichi (written: , , , , , or ) is a masculine Japanese given name. People with the given name Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese volleyball player *, Japanese footballe ...

and

Tomohiro Ishii is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is currently a double champion: being the Strong Openweight Champion in his first reign, and one-half of the current IWGP Tag Team Champions with Ta ...

, ending their reign at 50 days.

Championships and accomplishments

*London Lucha League **LLL Championship (2 times) *

(

2 times "2 Times" is the debut single of English singer Ann Lee. It was released in Italy in December 1998 by X-Energy as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999), and was issued worldwide the following year. The single peaked at number tw ...

) – with

(1) and

(1) *''

Pro Wrestling Illustrated ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publishing Group. The maga ...

'' **Ranked No. 373 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the ''

PWI 500 ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publishing Group. The maga ...

'' in 2024 *Reloaded Championship Wrestling Alliance **RCWA British Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Maverick Mayhew

References

External links

New Japan Pro Wrestling Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Newman, Callum 2002 births Living people Professional wrestlers from London Sportspeople from the London Borough of Havering English male professional wrestlers 21st-century male professional wrestlers Expatriate professional wrestlers in Japan 21st-century English sportsmen IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions